The Regional Prosecutor's Office in Chojnice (Pomeranian Voivodeship) is investigating the tragic fire which broke out in the local hospice in early hours on Monday (January 6th). Four people, aged between 64 and 72, died as a result of the fire, 24 were injured.
Four people died and more than 20 were injured in a fire at a Polish hospice in the early hours on Monday (January 6th) that could have been caused by a patient smoking a cigarette, officials said.
Three people died at the site of the 3 a.m. fire in the town of Chojnice, while the fourth died on the way to hospital, regional governor Dariusz Drelich told a news conference broadcast on TVN24. "It was initially established that the fire could have been caused by one of the patients who was likely smoking a cigarette," police spokesman Michal Sienkiewicz said, according to state news agency PAP. Rescue efforts were hampered by the patients' poor health and limited mobility and by large amounts of smoke, a spokesman for Poland's State Fire Service told TVN.
Investigation launched
The head of the Chojnice prosecutor's office Mirosław Orłowski told PAP said that due to character and gravity of the case it would be taken over by the District Prosecutor's Office in Słupsk.
"The collected evidence allows us to assume with strong probabilty, approaching certainty, the fire broke out in room 6, occupied by a resident of Czersk Municipality. We assume that, most likely, the fire was caused by a cigarette butt carelessly thrown away by the inmate," presecutor Orłowski said.
He added that the 64-year-old had died in the fire. "The source and intensity of the fire were so high that, unfortunately, it was impossible to save the man," he explained.
The remaining three victims died, most likely, due to carbon monoxide poisoning.
Autopsies of the victims have been scheduled for Tuesday.
Autor: gf / Źródło: TVN24 News in English, Reuters
Źródło zdjęcia głównego: tvn24